“That’s one of the reasons why the Celtics still have him,” Deveney said on the Celtics Beat podcast.

“They consider him an insurance policy. Obviously if there was the right deal that had come up in the last month-and-a-half then they might have moved Terry but I do think they look at him as the insurance policy for A) Kyrie’s knee and then B) for Kyrie making a surprising decision.

“The fact that Terry is going to be restricted next year gives the Celtics a little bit of a cushion so if Kyrie does leaven July 2 the Celtics will have some time to make an offer to Terry Rozier or to match something if he gets an offer from another team.”

The question still remains on what Irving will do in 2019 with Boston desperate to not lose him for free.

But Deveney believes it is “highly likely” the 26-year-old will stick with the Celtics.

“If they have the kind of year that we expect and if things go smoothly and if he’s healthy then I would expect him to sign long term,” he added.

“The Celtics didn’t make the deal for him last summer in order to lose him two years later.

“You’re going to get the full-court press from the Celtics and we know Kyrie’s a bit of an odd duck.

“He’s got his own drummer that he marches to so it wouldn’t be surprising to see him make a choice that nobody is expecting at this point but I think going into this year he’s highly likely to re-sign with the Celtics.”